PHOTO COURTESY OF THE BOSTON GLOBE
The “Boston Strangler,” Albert DeSalvo, who admitted to the rape and murder of 11 women, leaves Lynn Police headquarters for Middlesex Court on Feb. 25, 1967.
By Bridget Turcotte
LYNN — The Boston Strangler case, which marked a terrifying swath of history with ties to the city, could soon captivate audiences.
Director Barry Levy is planning to film “Stranglehold” in Boston next year. It will tell the story of the Boston Strangler Task Force, the unit formed to capture the self-proclaimed killer, who raped and murdered more than a dozen women.
The connection between the case and the city goes beyond the 1962 murder of Helen Blake, a 65-year-old nurse at her Newhall Street home. Blake was found strangled with a silk stocking and bra by Lynn Police Sgt. Francis Brodbine and patrolmen William Alphen and Edward Shabowich.
Three years after his arrest, Albert DeSalvo, who admitted to the rape and murder of 11 women, escaped from custody in a laundry bag that was placed on a truck and taken through the gates of Bridgewater State Hospital. When questioned, his brother admitted he gave him a lift to West Lynn.
Alan Simons, owner of Simons Uniform, was working at the Lynn shop when a man walked in and asked to use the phone. He recalled having his back turned to the door when his father, Joseph, who was in his 80s, responded that he could only use the phone if it was a local call, not long distance.
“He then said ‘it’s an emergency, I want to call F. Lee,’” said Simons, who recognized the reference to DeSalvo’s attorney, F. Lee Bailey.
Simons had seen DeSalvo’s face plastered on the front page of The Boston Globe and the Item that day.
“As soon as he picked up the phone, I called Lynn Police on the other phone,” he said. “It took them a little bit of time to get there. Everybody was coming in from Revere and Salem out of curiosity. Traffic was incredible.”
DeSalvo reported that Bailey was out of town. Another attorney from his office asked Simons to wait so he could bring him to the station, rather than calling the police. Simons offered DeSalvo a cup of coffee while they waited and Jimmy Trelegan, a sales associate, led him to the back room. As Simons followed him down the aisle, he thought quickly about how to defend himself.
“I had grabbed a billy club off the shelf and put it in my back pocket,” Simons said. “I pulled my shirt over it so he never knew I had it. I’m former military police. I was quite skilled with a club. I said he’s not sticking a nylon stocking around my neck. But it didn’t bother me one bit.”
DeSalvo sipped his coffee while Simons stood in the doorway. DeSalvo later sent him a Christmas card from the prison at Cedar Junction at Walpole, thanking him for treating him “like a person.”
“We were sitting there, not saying much, having a staring contest,” Simons said. “I asked him ‘did you strangle those 13 women?’ and he said, ‘I honestly don’t know, I know I did some of them.’”
Twenty minutes passed before Lynn officers arrived with guns drawn, asking him to identify himself, Simons said.
Patrolman Adam Kotkowski was first on scene, followed by James Kennedy, Robert Cloonan, John Lopresto Sr. and Vernon “Bunchy” Foss.
Sgt. Joseph Coppinger, who died in 2008, oversaw the arresting team. His son, Police Chief Kevin Coppinger, said he was 8 or 9 when it happened, but remembers feeling proud that his father was involved.
“It caused quite the hysteria,” Coppinger said. “I remember my dad working long hours. It was the talk of the town. There were stories that someone else was responsible, but I think my father always thought DeSalvo did it.”
But the film slated to begin filming this winter will recount a different part of history.
In 1964, the Boston Strangler still did not have a face to go with his crimes. Then Attorney General Edward Brooke formed a special unit dedicated to capturing the elusive killer.
Blake was the third victim in a series of murders between 1962 and 1964 that shook Greater Boston and caught the attention of newspapers nationwide. All of the attacks involved strangulation by stockings and other clothing items. None involved forced entry. Published reports vary in the number of deaths caused at the hands of the strangler.
The first victim was Anna Slesers, 55, a seamstress from the Back Bay. She was killed on June 14, 1962. Three weeks later, Mary Mullen, 85, was killed. Nina Nichols, 68, was killed on June 30, the same day as Blake.
The subsequent killings of Ida Irga, 75; Jane Sullivan, 65; Sophie Clark, 21; Patricia Bissette, 23; Mary Brown, 68; Beverly Samans, 23; Evelyn Corbin, 58; Joann Graff, 23; and Mary Sullivan, 19, followed.
In an interview with the Item, Levy said Blake’s murder happened at a critical time for the case and that it’s “definitely a time we’re exploring.” He’s not sure whether scenes from the movie would be filmed in Lynn.
DeSalvo was initially arrested on rape charges related to a series of incidents referred to as the “green man rapes.” He confessed to the rape and murder of 11 women but he was never charged in the strangler case. But before he was stabbed to death in prison in 1973, he recanted his confession and was never charged with murder.
Levy said his interest is in the team that formed to find the killer, including Peter Hurkos, a psychic entertainer who claimed to have extra sensory perception following a head injury.
“The relationship between Hurkos and the team on that bureau is sort of the heart of what I’m interested in exploring,” he said. “He flew into Boston in the dark of the night and spent a week with the Strangler Task Force. That one week seemingly changed the tenure of the investigation.”
Casting for the movie is underway. Levy said he hopes to capture the empty streets of downtown Boston he’s only heard about in stories.
“My hope is to sort of evoke that same feeling at that time,” he said.
Still, Levy is not the first director to take on the topic. In 1968, director Richard Fleischer released “The Boston Strangler.” It starred Tony Curtis as DeSalvo, Henry Fonda as assistant attorney general John Bottomly and George Kennedy who portrayed detective Phil DiNatale.
Levy, who grew up in MetroWest, said his father worked nights in a hospital, leaving his mom alone in the house. About six years after DeSalvo was killed, Levy’s mother was reading “The Boston Strangler” by Gerold Frank.
“My mom woke up seeing the dark eyes of Albert DeSalvo staring back at her and she panicked, grabbed the book and threw it into the incinerator,” said Levy. “My mother was a fairly well recognized biochemist. She was not prone to fits of fright. This scared such a strong woman that a book jacket frightened her. That stuck with me.”
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.
